New Bremen takes on Parkway

NEW BREMEN – Tackling was a problem for the New Bremen Cardinals football team last Friday at Versailles as they were defeated 42-0.

This week the Cardinals entertain the Parkway Panthers. Game time is Friday at New Bremen at 7:30.

Head Coach Rob Messick’s thoughts heading into the game:

— “We struggled on defense last week,” Cardinals head coach Rob Messick said. “Last week I don’t know how many times we gave up a three-yard play that they turned into a 50 or 60 yard play. They just kept hitting us underneath and we couldn’t make the tackle.”

— “Offensively we moved the ball okay but we couldn’t score,” Messick said. “We have to be able to get a yard when you need it. We just couldn’t get that yard. A couple of times we were inside the five on a second and two and couldn’t get the ball in. We have to be more consistent when we get down in scoring range to get the ball in the endzone.”

“We are 0-7 and have Parkway and we are struggling and we have to do anything we can to get a win,” Messick said. “We have to get focused on that task and that has to be the most important thing on our minds right now.

— “Parkway throws the ball a lot,” Messick said. “They mix it up but they throw the ball quite a bit. Defensively they are a typical Parkway team being big and aggressive and they have quite a few skilled kids.

— “Their quarterback is a good runner,” Messick said. “What we have to do is take care of business and do good things defensively. We need to get everything covered up. We can’t allow the big plays. Their quarterback is big and if he gets in the middle of the field he can get all kind of yards.”

— “The biggest thing for us on Friday is we have to stay in our pass rush lanes,” Messick said. “We have to account for the quarterback scrambling. They do a good job of finding holes and get open so we have to take that away from them. We also have to play tight defense against them and tackle.

— “Football is not difficult,” Messick said. “Everybody thinks that because we have to do this and that, but it is real simple. If you block offensively then you can run an offense. If you can tackle you can run a defense. It doesn’t matter what scheme you are in it comes down to those two things. In short yardage situations we have to block better and defensively we have to tackle. Defensively you have to make the passing teams drive the football. We have to nickel and dime them and make them throw a lot of passes.”